Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department is providing to social security claimants to help them manage increased utility costs.

The government is providing significant financial support to many households to support them with rising energy bills. The Energy Bills Rebate will provide around 28 million households with an upfront discount on their bills worth £200. Energy suppliers will apply the discount to domestic electricity customers from October, with the Government meeting the costs. Households in England, which are in council tax bands A-D, will also receive a £150 rebate on their council tax. The rebate to bills will be made directly by local authorities from April and will not need to be repaid.

DWP administers the Cold Weather Payment scheme, which provides £25 extra a week to vulnerable people in receipt of certain income-related benefits, when the average temperature has been recorded, or is forecast to be, 0 degrees Celsius or below over 7 consecutive days at the weather station linked to an eligible person’s postcode.

Some customers in receipt of Universal Credit may be entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment if they or their partner reached state pension age on or before 26 September 2021.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy administers the Warm Home Discount Scheme for low income and vulnerable customers. It gives direct assistance with their energy costs. Energy suppliers provide rebates on energy bills currently worth £140 per household each winter. This year (2021/22), the scheme will be worth £354 million.

The Energy Price Cap will continue to protect consumers, ensuring they pay a fair price for their energy this winter.

Further detail on all three schemes can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment

https://www.gov.uk/cold-weather-payment

https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme

In addition, we recognise that some people require extra support over the winter, which is why vulnerable households across the country can access the £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund provides £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula applies in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.